Teachers are Playing 'Union-Union' .... Teachers Unions abound, so is the number of teacher- netas who want to hog limelight in media.. So are the HP government policies for teachers-regular, Contract, adhoc, SMC, vidya upasak..  Perhaps teachers  are in amrit kal of Amrit Utsav...

Cadre: Lecturers (School Cadre), Total Number: About 20,000.

This is now the largest cadre in the entire Education Department. There's only one recognized organization for lecturers, the "State School Lecturers Union."

There will be only one President. There will be only one General Secretary. So, what will those who have a desire to become President or General Secretary do?

Let me tell you. Start a new union. It's the season for it. It's like the rainy season; anything will grow. 

Now look. There are only two ways to become a lecturer. Either you come through the commission, directly. Or you come through promotion, and be called a promotee.

They're all lecturers anyway. But they add a prefix to distinguish themselves. Some promotee friends who didn’t like the State School Lecturers Union or didn’t get the chance to become President or Secretary, they started a new union called the "Promotee School Lecturers Union."

Their demands were the same as the school lecturers’ union but with two extras: increase the quota for headmasters from lecturers more than headmasters and keep promoting promotee lecturers to headmasters.

Fine, forgiven.

Then some other friends didn't like even that. When the government renamed lecturers to PGT (Post Graduate Teacher), those friends got a golden opportunity to declare themselves as leaders and started the "PGT Union."

The demands were the same as the school lecturers’ union. But they added one more: make the headmaster's post quota 50-50 between lecturers and PGTs. Meaning one lecturer and one PGT. This way, a lecturer appointed in 1996 and a PGT appointed in 2011 can both become headmasters together. They also want to keep being promoted to headmaster.

The High Court found this demand laughable and explained that the final seniority list cannot be tampered with at all.

Then the government took a U-turn and renamed PGT to "Lecturer (School New)." Some friends, unhappy with the PGT union, appeared with a new organization called "Lecturer Union (School New)" within ten hours of the renaming. The demands were again the same as the lecturers' union but with promotee lecturers’ association demands.

They also wanted to become headmasters and opposed strict adherence to the Supreme Court's rules on seniority. They argued that lecturers promoted before 2010 should continue to be made headmasters. The TGT Arts Union strongly opposed this in court, and this demand also seems laughable.

Now some other new unions occasionally pop up. Terms like "2010 Commission Lecturers Union," "Union of Lecturers Regularized from Para," "Union of Lecturers Regularized from PTA," "Union of Lecturers Regularized from Volunteer Teachers" are commonly heard in newspapers from time to time.

Thankfully, we haven’t yet heard of unions like "Tenure Lecturers Union," "Union of Lecturers Regularized from Contract," "Union of Lecturers Regularized from Special Contract," "Union of Lecturers Who Came from College Takeovers."

Anyway, if you too have a desire to see your name in the papers, I can suggest a few unions for you. Become President-Secretary of these according to your preference:

1. "Union of Lecturers from Science TGT to English."

2. "Union of Lecturers from Science TGT to Commerce."

3. "Union of Lecturers from Science TGT to Other Arts Subjects."

4. "Union of Lecturers from C&V to TGT, then Lecturer."

5. "Union of Lecturers from JBT to C&V, then C&V to TGT, then TGT to Lecturer."

6. "Union of Lecturers from JBT to TGT, then TGT to Lecturer."

7. "Union of Lecturers Who Came from Private College Takeovers."

8. "Union of Lecturers Who Came from Private School Takeovers."

Say what you will. I’ve created about fifteen unions. Hooray… At least 30 people can become President-Secretaries.

If there are still some people who can’t be adjusted, lay the foundation for these unions too:

1. "Science Lecturers Union."

2. "Arts Lecturers Union."

3. "Commerce Lecturers Union."

4. "Sports Lecturers Union."

5. "NPS Lecturers Union."

If some are still left out, there are umbrella unions too, like "Himachal Government Teachers Union" in three or four factions, the recently famous for transfers "Teachers Union," "Teachers Revolution Forum," "Teachers Front," "Sanskrit Teachers Forum," and so on. Jump in anywhere. But your glory will be assured only if you become President-Secretary.

No one asks how many members the union has or if the executive is full of actual teachers or someone else. Nor does anyone care how many unions one person is a member of.

Just become President-Secretary. What do you have to do? Welcome the government’s DA announcements in newspapers, call new declarations unprecedented and revolutionary, praise ministers and their underlings, and, whenever you get a chance, present them with shawls and caps. 

Most importantly, get yourself, your wife, and close relatives transferred to desired locations. 

Nice game, right?

Let’s play ‘Union-Union.’

“This is your union, this is my union, if anyone wants to join, they first have to pay the full membership fee.”

(Sachin Thakur is a  Lecturer, Physics,Government Boys School, Dharamshala)